Fire ladder and the like



Dec. 25, 1923.

3 Sheets-Sheet l J. H. OSBORNE ET AL FIRE LADDER AND THE LIKE Filed July11 Dec. 25, 1923. 1,478,793

J. H. OSBORNE ET AL I v FIRE LADDER AND THE LIKE Filed July 11 19213*SheetsSheet 3 Dec. 25 1923. 1,478,793

.1. H. OSBORNE ET AL FIRE LADDER AND THE LIKE Filed July 11. 1921 3Sheets-Sheet 5 I Patented Dec. 25, 1923.

UNITED; STATES PATENT OFFICE.

' JOHN HENRY OSBORNE, E BLAOKHEATH, AND ALFRED WILLIAM LoNnoN, ENGLAND.

BUB/FORD, OF LEE,

FIRE LADDER AND THE LIKE.

Application filed July 11, 1921, Serial No. 483,873.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN HENRY OSBORNE and Annual) VVILLIAM Bunronn,subjects of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, residing,respectively, at Blackheath and Lee,

London, England, have invented Improvements in Fire Ladders and thelike, of which the following is'a specification.

This invention has reference to improvements in motor actuated ladderswhich are capable of being raised from an approximately horizontalposition to a more or less vertical position and lowered, and of beingtelescopically extended or collapsed. Such ladders are described in the'specificationof British Letters Patent No. 2502 of 1908 granted toJames Compton Merryweather, to which reference may be had for detailsnot herein described and which form no part of the present invention.

An object of the present invention is to enable such ladders to beextended or collapsed whether they are being raised or lowered or arestationary, and raised or lowered 2 whether they are being extended orcollapsed or not. A further object is to enable theyvarious motions ofthe ladder to be effected without reversing the motor'driven shaft andwithout risk of damage to the gears or ladder through the attendant notdisengaging the gears from the motor driven shaft at the proper timesFor these purposes the gears between the motor driven shaft and theextending gear and the raising and lowering gear, each com prisereversely driven 'ear wheels to either of which the gear sha't may beconnected by a reversing clutch actuated by a hand lever throughsuitable connections and a 40 means is provided for automatically disconmeeting the raising and lowering gear from A the motor both when theladder has been raised to its maximum angle and when ithas reached itslowest position, and for disconnecting the extension gear from. the

motor when the ladder is fully extended.

I Theaccompanying drawings illustrate the raising and lowering andextension gear or" a motor driven fire escape ladder of the turntabletype embodying the present invention.

Fig. 1 is a sideelevation;

Fig. 2 a plan, and

Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating partly in section, the raising andlowering and extension gear without the means for disconnecting the gearfrom the motor driven shaft.

00 .r are the screws by which the ladder y is raised and lowered aboutits fulcrum e on a turntable platform mounted on an automobile, thesefeatures being already well known and constituting no part of the present invention. 9 is a drum for winding the wire rope g for extending andcollapsing the ladder y. e'is the motor driven vertical shaft the axisof which is coincident with the centre of rotation of the turntable. Themotor is not shown but is connected to the shaft 6.

The shaft e is connected by gears e to the shaft 6 proceeding from agear box 6 and is formed with a worm gear on its upper end which engageswith a worm wheel 1 on a spindle 2 carrying two spur wheels 3 and 3",(Fig. 3) the wheel 3 of which gears direct with a spur wheel 4 loose onthe raising and lowering gear shaft 5 connecting through bevel gear'sGthe screws 00, whilst the other wheel 3 gears through an idle pinion 3with anotherspur wheel 4 on' the shaft 5; the spur wheels 4 and 4 gearwithsimilar spur wheels 7 and '7 loosely mounted'on the extension gearshaft 8 gearedto the drum Q2. Between the spur wheels 4. and 4- and thespur Wheels 7 and 7 are clutched members l and 7 which are feathered tothe shafts 5 and 8 respectively and can be actuated by levers 9 and 10through levers and link connections. As will be understood with such anarrangement by suitable manipulation of the clutch levers9 and 10, eachof the shafts 5 and 8 can be driven from an irreversible motor drivenshaft in either direction irrespective of whether the other shaft isbeing driven or the direction in which it is being driven;

consequently the ladder can be extended or collapsed during raising andduring lowering and whilst held at the desired angle, and can also beraised or loweredabout its fulcrum without its length being varied, asmay be required. Obviously should the motor driven shaft for any reasonbe rotated in a direction opposite to that in which it is primarilyintended to run, the same results 7 may be obtained by suitablymodifying the operation of the clutch levers.

The control lever 9 is fulcrumed at 11 and is coupled by a link 12 to anarm 13 projecting from the spindle 14. of the shifter ofthe clutchmember on the shaft 5 that is geared to the screws 0;; another arm 15 onthe spindle 14 is connected by-a link 16 to one arm of a bell crank 17,the other arm of which lies in the path of an adjustable stop 18 on theladder frame and has pivoted out the clutch, thecontrol lever being correspondingly moved in either case even if the attendant be holding it.

The control lever 10 is fulcrumed at 21 and is coupled by a link 22 toan arm 23 projecting from th'e spindle 24 of the fork of the clutchmember on the shaft 8 that is geared to the extension wire drum The wirerope f, for the purpose of extending the V the ladder sections, as isusual, is laid on the drum by a pair of guide sheaves 25 carried by anut 26 mounted on a traversing" screw spindle'27 parallel to and drivenfrom the drum 9 the nut 26 is formed with *a projection 28 and one armof a lever 29 fulcrumed at 30 extends into the path of this projection,the other arm of the lever 29 being connected by a link 31 with the arm23. l Vhen the traversing nut 26 reaches a certain V position on thescrew 27, the rope will have extended the ladder to the full extent andthe nut will at the same time actuate the lever29 and through it the arm23 in such manner as to throw out the clutch. An automatic stop is notneeded to throw out the clutch when the ladder reaches its fullycollapsed condition as further rotation of the drum will simply slackthe rope; but such a stop may V be provided if desired.

Whatwe'claim is: r 1. In a fire ladder adapted to be raised and loweredabouta horizontal axis and of be ing telescopically extended orcollapsed, a shaft, a pair of spur wheels loosely mounted thereon, ashaft parallel to the first named "shaft also 'havin 'a- )air of's urwheels loosely mounted thereon and in stant mesh. with the'firstriamedfpair, a pair of oppositely rotating driving wheels in constantmesh with the spur wheels on one of the said shafts and clutch membersconwhereby, with all the gear wheel continually in mesh, it is possibleto use either shaft byitself or both shafts together with re versal ofeither or both whenever desired.

2. In a fire ladder adapted to be raised.

the companion shaft, a similar clutch member" adapted to connect eitherspur wheel of the second pair to the other shaft, and means forindependently operating both clutch members which in neutral positionallow both shafts to remain idle. whilst all the gear wheels arerotating.

3. The combinat on with a pivotall mounted fire ladder, and means forraising and lowering the same about its pivot, of

a shaft for the operation of such means, a pair of oppositely rotatingspur gear wheels loosely mounted on such shaft, a clutching memberadapted to temporarily connect each of said wheels alternatively to theshaft, rockinggear adapted to shift the clutch member in oppositedirections, a hand operated lever connectedto such gear and a lever alsoconnected to such gear adapted to be displaced by the ladder when in itsextreme raised and lowered positions.

4. T he combination with a pivotally mounted fire ladder and means forextending and collapsing the same embodying a rope winding drum, of ashaft for the operation of such drum, a pair of oppositely rotating spurgear wheels loosely mounted on such shaft, a clutch means adapted totemporarily connect each of said wheels alternatively to the shaft,rocking gear adapted to shift the clutch member in opposite directions,a hand operated lever connected to such gear, a rope guiding sheavearrangement travelling parallel to the axis of the rope winding drum as:

the latter revolves, and a lever also connected ment when the ladder isfully extended.

Signed at Londomthis twenty-fourth day of June, 1921'. I 7

JOHN HENRY OSBORNE, V ALFRED lLLlP-rli l EURFOHD.

